Most people do not like to stand at the stove for an hour and a half daily to cook a hot dinner or lunch. Modern kitchen appliances, of course, have simplified the cooking process. But it still takes quite a lot of time.
That is why people are increasingly buying semi-finished products - dumplings, meatballs, spring rolls, salads and soups in bags. There are many questions about the last dish. Some people think that such a soup is a type of instant noodle filled with various harmful chemicals. Others are sure that this is a completely independent dish, which, for the convenience of customers, is sold in the form of a dry mixture of vegetables, meat and spices.
So are bag soups harmful? And which are better to take in the store?
Kinds
Soups in bags are of two types - dry and liquid. The latter are fully prepared dishes that need only to be warmed up. They are presented in stores with a very limited range. In most retail outlets, they are simply absent. Previously, two brands were leading the market - Gurmania and Knorr. But buyers took them reluctantly, since the price was high.
Dry bagged soups are a completely different matter. They are presented on store shelves with the widest assortment. Prices are also pleasantly pleasing - the minimum cost of one sachet is about like a pack of instant noodles. Although there are many products of medium and high price category.
Composition
What are soups in bags made of? This question excites all buyers. It should be noted that packaged dry soups are produced by many different manufacturers. And their composition can vary greatly, both for the worse and for the better. If you study the label on the product, you can understand that most of these mixtures consist of two types of components, namely:
- Natural products - noodles, vegetables, legumes, egg powder, spices, soy, vegetable and animal fat, etc. They can be stored for a long time in a freeze-dried and dehydrated form. Sublimation is an expensive processing method, therefore, in dry mixes it is practically not found. Dehydrogenation is drying at high temperatures. This treatment completely changes the taste, color and smell of the products. And they will not be restored back, so they will have to be replaced with fragrances and dyes.
- Chemical flavor enhancers, preservatives, flavors, colorants, stabilizers, thickeners and other substances. They are in each package of dry soup in a greater or lesser concentration. Sodium glutamate is always present everywhere.
- Salt. It is worth mentioning separately. There are a lot of it in bagged soups, as in other convenience foods. It enhances the taste of spices, makes the dish more enjoyable. According to the findings of Rachel Thompson, a doctor from the World Cancer Research Foundation, people who are used to eating bagged soups daily increase their risk of cancer by a factor of two. And for the most part, salt is to blame.
Benefit
Are there any benefits to the body in packaged soups? Yes, if the question arises as to whether to eat such a dish or not to have lunch at all. The main benefit of this product is convenience for the buyer for minimal money. Bagged soups are prepared very quickly - some just need to be filled with water (inexpensive), others boil with the right amount of water.
Harm
Potentially soups in bags can be harmful due to the high content of various chemical additives. In addition, packaging, for example a plastic cup for soup, can be dangerous. Some contain polystyrene, which begins to release when heated. So dry mixes are better to fill in with boiling water in a usual plate.
A large amount of salt and sugar, which a person receives in excess from other food products, can also cause harm.
But to summarize, dry packaged soups are just as good or bad as chocolate, sausages, sausages, cakes or pastries. Most products from the store contain harmful chemicals. In order to exclude them from your diet completely, you need to move to a remote village and eat only the products of your own farm.
So you can eat soup. But not everyone, and not every day. Such food will be dangerous for hypertensive patients, people with heart disease, blood vessels or gastrointestinal tract.
How to cook
How to cook soup from bags? This process is simple and takes a minimum of time. The cheapest soups you just need to fill with water - and after 3-4 minutes they will be ready. This is an analogue of instant noodles, only with a slightly changed composition - with a more pronounced taste of the broth and a large number of vegetables.
Other soups should be cooked according to the instructions on the package. It usually takes 5-20 minutes. The pre-dry mixture is diluted with water in the indicated volume, then brought to a boil and cooked until tender. Sometimes dry soup needs to be poured directly into boiling water and boiled until tender.
As a result, from each bag you can get 400-500 ml (liquid volume according to the instructions) of the soup.
Another cooking option
Most family people do not like this portion. This is too little to feed 3-4 people. In addition, the food is often quite liquid, with a minimum of vegetables. The meat is completely absent as a phenomenon - instead of juicy appetizing slices, which are displayed on the packaging, soy meat floats in the broth at best. And at worst from beef, pork and chicken, there is only an aroma that gives chemical additives to the soup.
That is why most people are trying to improve this food. How to cook a delicious soup from a bag? There are several ways:
- Pour the mixture not with water, but with a good rich broth - meat, fish, vegetable or mushroom.
- Increase fluid volume to 1-1.5 liters.
- When the mixture boils, add a little potato cubes and fried carrots with onions.
- You can add ham or sausage cubes to the broth.
- Try the soup on salt and add salt if necessary.
- Cook until tender.
The result is a thick, rich soup with slices of ham or sausage and vegetables. A bagged soup here plays the role of a bouillon cube, which binds and complements all the ingredients.
Overview of Instant Soups
There are a lot of instant soups in stores. They differ in price, composition, cooking method and, of course, in taste. The last indicator is the most important for the consumer, so we will dwell on it. So, on the shelves you can find products of the following brands:
- “Cup of soup” from “Knorr”. Instant soup. The volume after adding water is 300 ml. In fact, you need to add a little less, since the soup turns out to be liquid. The taste is normal, quite pleasant.
- "Everyday". Dry packaged mixes of 60 g each. Price is minimum. Not more expensive than 10 rubles. Designed for 800 ml. Liquid soup with a pungent chemical smell. If you don’t jam it with bread or sandwiches, then after such a meal you want to eat in an hour. Bribes a very low price. It can be used as the basis for a complete homemade soup.
- "Editing." A famous brand of packaged soups. Dry mix - 62 g. Designed for one liter of water. There are different soups of this brand on sale, but unlike other manufacturers, they are practically no different. The taste is pleasant. If you add potatoes, you get a more rich and satisfying dish.
- "Compass of health." Instant soup, one of which you need to pour a glass of boiling water and insist. Tasty, but not satisfying, as there is no meat.
- "Maggie." Also soup from the category of "one mug." To the best of thick, rich and fragrant. The bags indicate which ingredient is best to add to make it better and tastier.
Reviews
Soup bags is a simple and inexpensive dish. According to most people, it does not replace normal homemade food. And, despite all the taste-improving additives, it can not be compared with a real soup cooked according to the usual recipe. In terms of nutritional qualities, such a dish is inferior even to soups from an inexpensive food service, since they are prepared at least on some kind of broth made from natural products.
But if there is no time, and you need to quickly build dinner, then packaged soups are suitable for this purpose. The main thing is not to use them too often.